The much-delayed leadership conference of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal will be held in September, provincial party secretary Sipho Gcabashe said on Monday.
By that time, provincial ANC leader S'bu Ndebele could have been inaugurated as the new premier of KwaZulu-Natal, should the constitutional court throw out a challenge to the controversial floor-crossing legislation.
If the highest court in the land confirms the constitutionality of the law, it will unmask a hype of political activity across the country, with the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal - buoyed by five defections to it - ousting the IFP from power.
The passing of the law by the constitutional court could be a jackpot for Ndebele as it would bring his dream of premiership even closer to realisation, having lost to his political nemesis, Premier Lionel Mtshali, in 1999.
Such a court outcome could mean 15 days of political bonanza for the ANC, with more party elected representatives from more political parties - including councillors - said to be dusting their CVs in anticipation of crossing to the ANC in what promises to be a one-street defection traffic.
Ndebele's elevation to premiership will also enhance his chances of successfully defending his chairmanship of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal, a position he was elected to in 1998 when he narrowly beat Zweli Mkhize.
Both Ndebele and his ANC deputy Mkhize are expected to do battle again when the ANC holds its leadership conference in September.
The conference appears certain, having been postponed many a time because of - among other reasons - poor membership figures and re-alignment of its branches to post-December 2000 new municipal boundaries.
According to Gcabashe, there were two more ANC regional conferences still to be held before the crunch September indaba. These are the Far North, which includes places such as Mkhuze, Pongola and Manguzi, and the Greater Umsinga region.
